ted 3.4***
Seth MacFarlane (the creator of 'FAMILY GUY') makes his feature-length live-action directorial debut . The film stars Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis with MacFarlane voicing the computer animated title character, Ted The film is a fantasy comedy film about a teddy bear that comes to life to grant a child's wish and becomes a burden on his romantic relationship when he's a grown man. The movie is surprisingly well made for MacFarlane's first feature effort and has more hits than misses with laughs. It's mostly a crowd pleaser IF you know what you're getting into.
Wahlberg stars as John Bennett. As a child John was an outcast and had no friends so when his parents get him a stuffed teddy bear for Christmas he makes it his imaginary best friend. One day he wishes that the stuffed bear could talk back to him and a falling star grants him that wish. The two grow up together and the teddy bear, known as Ted (MacFarlane), helps John overcome his insecurities. Their friendship is finally put to the test though when John's girlfriend of four years, Lori (Kunis), wants John to stop spending so much time with Ted so they can further their relationship together.
The animation is amazing… you quickly reach the point where you accept Ted for being real. These special effects are seamless even in high action scenes such as the hilarious fight scene between Wahlberg and Ted.
The movie is crude and vulgar but nothing more than one should expect from the creator of 'FAMILY GUY'. MacFarlane's direction is surprisingly impressive and the jokes for the most part work. Wahlberg is good and likable in the lead and Mila Kunis continues to show her talent. And the movie actually has a lot more heart than you'd expect from it. It's actually a positive story of friendship that could have played out the same way even if one of the characters wasn't a magical stuffed bear . BUT, take note, it is extremely crude and raunchy but quite funny hilarious at times, and there's definitely heart to it and it's a good, well intentioned buddy film!
Clark
About Me
- Clark Brewer
- Raleigh, NC, United States
- I am a huge movie fan ..it is my hobby….. and a few years ago I began writing movie reviews for the folks in my office and other friends. The email list has grown over the years until I now have around 400 or so people receiving the reviews. I don’t follow a set schedule and go when I’m interested …but it averages about 8 times a month. I review ALL kinds of movies including indies and foreign films. The reviews are not as long as most you see because I try to keep them interesting and humorous. Also, I don’t have spoilers as to what the outcome will be. I rate them on a scale of 1 to 4 **** with 4 being the highest/best. I also do Top 10/15 Categories of films off and on, and a recent one is below. Now I have set up this Blog and it has all my Movie Reviews since 2009. Occasionally I do a Book Review or a Theatrical Review or Las Vegas Show Reviews...but 95% of my reviews are movies.
